It is a slow but sure thing in our home, progress is, these days. And, for that I am truly grateful. For the past year, I have hidden an awful secret. Well, actually it wasn't hidden that well as you will soon see. But, I have been suffering from creative malaise. Yes, I have had ideas, and have had sudden bursts of craftiness. But, the truth is that I was drowning. Drowning in a sea of oppression.
You see, we had a room in our home that we deemed "The Fun Zone". This was where the other TV, the computers and my sewing machines were all located. From where, we had hoped, new inspirations would be birthed. Fun ideas. Ideas that would fill our home with laughter and good times. Good times spent with one another enjoying the many blessings poured out, undeservedly, upon us. Times for bonding, and learning. Learning about each other and the world around us. High, high hopes were held for this room.
Unfortunately, it soon became the room no one really wanted to be in. Well, except my dad. He was always in there watching the TV. Which, we realized, was the problem. That stinkin' TV. Right in the corner of the room, blocking one of the windows. That mammoth of mind-numbing noises was constantly droning on and on, sucking the life out of every attempt of creating that either the husband or I made. And sucking the life out of my dad, although he would never admit to that. So, we decided that while he stayed with my sister for a week, we needed to make some changes.
For a long time, I have been taking my sewing machine out of the room and into the kitchen so I didn't have to be in the same room with that thing. But, that was no longer working. As you can see here, in this horridly embarrassing before shot, this is what had become of my little creative nook.
Who wouldn't want to sit down and crank out some major crafty goodness in those conditions, huh? I mean, right? Nothing breeds creativity more than a square inch of work space surrounded with every left over scrap of every project ever worked on ever, a non-working sewing machine at your feet, a cardboard moving box filled with who only knows what anymore, staring at you, mocking you with it's cluttery undoneness, and fabric literally spilling out over onto you hindering any type of movement whatsoever. Add to that? The constant buzzing of the television you so fondly hate seeping into your brain, taking every happy thought and stomping on it until it turns to pulp and oozes out of your head in the form of tears of frustration that make you run screaming from the very thing that used to bring so much joy. And so now you see why my poor little shophas lain bare for, lo, these many months. I just couldn't do it. I just couldn't produce at the rate at which I wanted. I needed it to change, or I was afeared that my desire to sew anything ever again would curl up and die. And with it? So would a very big part of me. And I was not about to let that happen. So, when the husband voiced his equal disdain for what the room had become, we decided to take the plunge and start the change.
Now, I have to say, as much as I hated the room and that monster that was eating it alive, I was hesitant at first to let it go. Why you might ask? Because, you see, as I said my father had grown accustomed to it. And with Alzheimer's, change can be tricky. This was a big change. This was literally his lifeline every day. He would choose that thing over any interaction with us. And so we had to weigh the repercussions very very carefully. But we decided it was doing way more damage to keep it than to let it go. Yes, we knew he would take it personal, and yes we knew he would be extremely confused by it for a couple of days. But in the end, it was what needed to happen. So out it went. I didn't get a picture of the room with it in it, but here is the wall and window it was blocking.
It was in the corner where the dress form and the trunk are now. This shot was taken mid reorganization, and so had already been partially cleaned up. So what you didn't get to see is exactly how awful this room looked. The computer desk became a dumping ground for whatever happened to land there. And the books were usually just thrown back in any which way. Literally thrown in, the husband had to nail the back back onto it because it had given way to the force and the haphazard way in which they were flung in there.
It's amazing how much clutter can muddy up the mind. Just by tackling that side of the room, we felt like we could breathe again. And so, our attention turned to the other side. The other big black mass. That tower that you saw holding my fabrics. That was originally built to hold scrapbooks when I was selling Creative Memories, and so wasn't real conducive to fabric storage. But it was what we had. So it was used for years. But I hated it. I hated the way the fabric fell out of it, and the way that no matter how neatly I folded it, I would always lose sight of some and forget what I had, or knew that I had it but couldn't find it and had to pull out everything to hunt for it. So, a new fabric storage solution was a must. An online search for such brought me to Polar Notions. I knew I had finally found what I was looking for! Here is my fabric now.
Closer;
Finally! Finally! I can see what I have at all times! And it was moved to the other side of the room out of the direct sunlight that is now able to actually come in through the window! And here is the sewing station;
I love it! Look at all that room!! I know it's not perfect, and it's not where I ultimately want it to be, but as I said, the progress is slow but sure! I can breathe again, I can create again, and my kids can actually play on the computers again! Everything has a place, and I know where they all are. And my dad? He actually spends time with us now. Yes, sometimes he retreats to his bedroom to watch his television in there, which was a fear we had, but not nearly as much as I thought he would. And he makes it a point to hang out with us every night. To play the games we are playing, to try to engage in our family. It's so much more peaceful than I thought it would be.
And, just to show you that I am reaping the benefits of this space...which, by the way, we have renamed "The Creative Corner"...here is a peak at the new dolly design I have been working on. You may have been keen enough to have espied her on the bookshelf up there. I was going to wait until she was completely finished before letting her make her debut, but I am too excited about the way she is turning out. So,here she is close up. I love love LOVE her! It is the first ever design that I have done that has been a success on the first attempt at each step.
I would love to know what you think of her! Please leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail. I adore feedback!
